Transportation of cargo is a common requirement when travelling for both recreation and business. As is well known, common cargoes transported by people with their vehicles include luggage, skis, bikes, canoes, kayaks etc. Despite the common need to transport such items, the carrying capacity of motor vehicles without a roof-rack is typically limited to the available interior space of the vehicle. As such, due to the shape and size of various cargoes, many cargoes require a separate transporting apparatus to allow the motor vehicle to transport larger and/or more items than the interior space of the vehicle allows.
In the past, many different types of roof racks have been developed to provide a wide variety of means for transporting and storing cargo on the exterior of the vehicle. Roof racks typically attach to the roof of the vehicle via structural elements configured to the vehicle. The structural elements may include support rails or bars that extend along the length of the vehicle roof that may also include two or more crossbars extending across the width of the vehicle. Various attachments may be configured to the support rails and/or crossbars that are specifically adapted to connect the load to the roof rack. The crossbars may also be designed to adjust to the width of or beyond the width of the vehicle.
Cargo is then typically secured to a roof rack using the aforementioned accessories and/or straps that hold the cargo on the rails and/or crossbars. The position of the cargo is typically chosen by the user although it may be limited to a specific configuration based on the available attachment points on the roof rack or cargo.
Many vehicles are of significant height; particularly SUVs and minivans. This leads to vehicle roofs that are beyond the reach of the average or smaller person making the loading and unloading of cargo an often taxing or difficult procedure. As a result, personal injury can result when lifting heavy and/or awkward cargo to and from the roof of a vehicle. Similarly, damage to the vehicle or cargo can also occur. Individuals often attempt to overcome the height problem of many vehicles by attempting to balance on bumpers and/or the hood or the trunk of the vehicle in order to position or remove the cargo properly. Some individuals will also choose to carry small stepping systems within their vehicles which unnecessarily take-up space in the vehicle and can be dangerous to the person if they attempt to step up or down such a system with a heavy or awkward load. As such, there is a need for an apparatus that allows cargo to be loaded at a more accessable height and that overcomes the above mentioned problems.
The prior art illustrates various systems wherein design considerations have been directed towards convenience and functionality and have employed various arrangements in an attempt to provide ease-of-use to the end user. Typical designs include configurations that allow the user to lower and rotate the cargo to the side of the vehicle to assist in loading and unloading. For example, International publication WO 89/03324 discloses an apparatus including two lever arms mounted on a central staff centrally mounted on a supporting base to load cargoes onto and from the roof of a car and, United States Publication 2007/0007316 teaches a rotatable beam with foldable support arms for loading and unloading a bicycle to and from a car. Other designs improve on this functionality by allowing the cargo to be loaded to the side of the vehicle in a horizontal position and subsequently raised onto the vehicle in that same horizontal position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,150 discloses a roof rack that employs a stantionary longitudinal element that allows the load to remain horizontal during operation; U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,796 discloses a roof rack comprising two parallel tracks having a roof section and an auxiliary section wherein the auxiliary section positions to extend outward and downward from the ends of the roof; U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,470 discloses a rack that employs a telescoping mechanism and a parallelogram mechanism that keep the cargoes horizontal during operation; U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,529 discloses cables on pivotable arms to load bicycles and other cargo onto the roof of a vehicle; U.S. Pat. No. 6,638,000 discloses a system for lifting and lowering bicycles from the roof of a vehicle including a lift arm with support brackets for holding the bicycle to a rotatable shaft member positioned on the roof of a vehicle; and, U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,730 teaches an apparatus for loading cargoes using horizontal frame members, a cargo carrying rack and cargo carrying arms pivotably and slidably attached to frame members.
Despite these various design efforts, there remains a need for roof rack systems that reduce the strength requirements of individuals to load or unload the roof rack, that minimize the risk of damage to a vehicle and the risk of injury to individuals. In addition, there remains a need for roof rack systems in which installation on the vehicle is also relatively simple.